-By Adam Witmer-
Could you make a sale today if you wanted to? I'm not talking about customers coming to you, but rather, could you make a sale by going out and finding one?
Finding a sale on a minutes notice is a very challenging task. I know. I used to have a sales job where I had to do that. When we would arrive to work in the morning, our boss would occasionally tell us we had to go out and find a new sale that day. So we would...
Read MoreWe all know that it is much easier to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one. Yet so many businesses leave engagement up to the customer. The customer comes in on their own, leaves on their own, and comes back on their own.
But many customers are just looking for an excuse to come back.
They want to be engaged.
Read MoreThis summer, my wife and I decided to sign-up our twin girls for the dive team at our neighborhood pool. This was only our second year as pool members, but our first experience in working with the dive team.
We really did not know what to expect. To our surprise, we found it fairly difficult to actually sign-up the girls as we had to talk t
Read MoreMy family and I have recently started watching a show on Netflix called Man vs Food. While the show follows a goofy host trying to win eating challenges in restaurants throughout the country, it also features some of the best and most unique restaurants you can find.
Of all of the restaurants featured on the show, there was one that absolutely stuck out. It was a doughnut shop.
Read MoreWhen I started my photography business more than a decade ago, I was amazed by the support I received from family and friends. Sure, I offered a great product at a great price, and had a great funnel to get new clients, but the support of friends was amazing.
As I have been building this blog over the last few years, I realized that I did not have that many supporters. It really wasn't because they didn't want to support me. It was because I
Has something ever backfired on you because you made it too innovative or too complex?
When I first started my photography business, I wanted to get some excitement going among my friends and various networks. Since this was before I knew anything about internet marketing, I advertised my new services through a traditional marketing channel: a postcard advertisement.
Read MoreI like to think of myself as a decent negotiator. The reality, however, is that I don't negotiate very often and could easily refine my skills.
A few years back, I needed a new car and was determined to negotiate a great deal. This was the first time I had tried negotiating, so I...
Read MoreI was having lunch with my friend, Matt McWilliams, and I was sharing with him how I had just finished an "epic" blog post. I was really excited. I had written the post as a brainstorming session on how private community pools could expand or grow their pool membership and felt I had a ton of value to offer.
The post was nearly 3,000 words long.
Matt kindly looked at me and said, "Sorry, but I...
Read MoreWith so many resources available to help our businesses, it is often difficult to find one that provides a great value at a good price. Thankfully for me, I have found such a resource in Platform University by Michael Hyatt.
Now, I don’t expect that all of you are going to jump into Platform University - that is not my intention at all. Frankly, Platform University isn't really designed for many of my readers as it is a resource for those building online businesses, which is something I am doing with this site and my business.
The reason I am writing this article is that I wanted to take this opportunity to dissect the inner workings of this membership site I have been a part of for nearly two years and break down why it has been so valuable for me. My hope is that you will be able to take away a few business hacks (summarized at the end of the article) that Michael Hyatt has used in Platform University and be able to apply them to your own business.
Read MoreWhy in the world would anyone want to network with their competition?
Especially when the competition may discover a key business competitive advantage, steal a major customer, or poach a prized employee?
We all understand the importance of networking in our personal and professional circles but yet we often hesitate when networking with our competition.
But we understand that business, jobs, and even friendships come from people - not products, ideas, theories, experience, or services. People are at the heart of any company and connecting with them is one of the most important things a business owner can do.
Read MoreHate is an amazingly strong word.
Sometimes we are conditioned to it, but when we think about the word, it should cause us to take note. By definition it means “intense or passionate dislike.” And if someone uses that word regarding an organization, then it is probably worth taking note.
Read MoreWhen I first started working in the financial industry over a decade ago, the bank that I worked for talked about making their products “sticky” for their customers. They explained that the more products we sold, the stickier our company would be for them and the harder it would be for them to leave. Stickiness was their main customer retention strategy.
I now fully understand what they mean and why they focused on "stickiness." In fact, I still bank with that organization even though I haven’t worked there in nearly a decade.
But why? Because the services I have with them truly are sticky - it would be a major headache to switch banks.
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